Israel Adesanya’s rapid rise up the UFC ranks continues, and he’ll be featured in a main event in just his third appearance for the company.

UFC officials today announced Adesanya (13-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) will face veteran middleweight Brad Tavares (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale, which takes place July 6 at Pearl Theater in Las Vegas. It airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Adesanya and Tavares were each in action most recently earlier this month at UFC on FOX 29 in Arizona. Tavares picked up his fourth consecutive win by scoring a third-round TKO of Krzysztof Jotko on the night’s prelims, while Adesanya kept his professional MMA record unblemished with a split-decision win over Marvin Vettori.

After those performances, Adesanya admitted he was hoping to book a fight with Tavares, though he wasn’t sure it would be deemed a main event.

Tavares, a former cast member on “The Ultimate Fighter 11” who’s No. 14 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, is a Hawaiian-born fighter who has spent the past eight years in Las Vegas as a member of Xtreme Couture. His current winning streak includes victories over Jotko, Thales Leites, Elias Theodorou and Caio Magalhaes.

Adesanya, a Nigerian born fighter who now lives and trains in New Zealand, boasts a lengthy kickboxing resume in addition to his MMA experience but insists he’s focused solely on his UFC run and will now step into the octagon for the third time in just five months.

With the addition to the card, The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale lineup now includes: